Alberta heads for record-breaking recession

By Steve Randall | this page was last updated on the 24 Aug 2016Font size :

The economy in Alberta is on course for the largest 2-year contraction ever and a deficit nearing $11 billion.

The NDP government’s first fiscal update shows a 31 per cent increase in the province’s planned borrowing for operating expenses with $7 billion required to fund higher expenses.

Government revenues, while helped by improved oil prices, are under pressure as job losses and a reduction in consumer spending hits taxes.

The recession will ease slightly from 2015 with a contraction of 2.7 per cent compared to last year’s 3.7 per cent; but officials say the slump is worse than that of 1982-3.

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